Saltfish cakes are a delicious mesh of tender, flaky salt fish and potatoes formed into a patty and fried to golden brown perfection. Serve these with a delicious sauce for a mouthwatering appetizer, snack, or breakfast protein.
Carribean Saltfish Cakes
I love fish cakes, so when a good friend and subscriber asked if I had a recipe, I was too happy to pull this together. You can use any variety of salt fish for this recipe or even fresh fish. Just be sure to cook (bake or steam) before you form them into patties.
This dish is perfect for Sunday Brunch with biscuits or bakes or just by itself, as an appetizer for dinner parties.
Why You’ll Love This Saltfish Cakes Recipe
- Great Way to Repurpose Leftovers: Reduce waste and make a whole new meal when you use leftover fish and potatoes to make patties. It’s also an effective way to make a meal stretch (each cakes uses less fish per serving than a standard fish meal).
- So Delicious: Deep fried, crispy, and well seasoned, there’s no way you can go wrong with saltfish cakes. The crust is buttery and crisp and the inside is mashed and savory.
- Versatile: Switch up everything from the fish to the seasoning to customize this recipe to your liking.
What is saltfish?
Saltfish is a dry salted cod, coated in salt to preserve it. It is usually cod but any meaty white fish can be saltfish (i.e., tilapia, bass, or snapper).
To cook saltfish, it must first be soaked to remove excess salt.
Saltfish is dried white fish highly concentrated in salt in order to preserve it. It is usually cod, but haddock, tilapia, bass, snapper, or any other meaty white fish can be salt-cured. In order to cook the fish, it needs to be desalted and then rehydrated. Hence this sautéed saltfish recipe.
Ingredients for Saltfish Cakes
The main ingredients for saltfish cakes is the salt fish and potatoes, everything also acts as an enhancer.
- Salt fish: I am using salted boneless and skinless Alaskan Pollock.
- Red potatoes: Either starchy or waxy potatoes will work for this recipe. I prefer red potatoes because they hold up well and don’t fall apart.
- Seasoning and Spices: Season with granulated garlic, dried thyme, and cayenne powder.
- Green onions: Green onions have a crisp and mildly pungent flavor, offering a refreshing combination of subtle sweetness and a hint of peppery zest.
- Lime juice: This brightens the savory flavors and adds a citrusy taste.
- Garlic: Grated.
- Onion: Grated.
- Spicy brown mustard: Add this for a pop of zesty flavor.
- Tomato paste: This adds depth, richness, and concentrated tomato flavor to a dish, enhancing its savory profile while contributing a slightly sweet undertone.
- All purpose flour: This ensures a crispy coating once the patties are fried.
- Seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs: This provides a crunchy coating. You can use panko breadcrumbs as a substitute.
- Oil: For frying.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Saltfish Cakes
Soak the salt fish in boiling water and leave overnight to remove some of the salt.
Wash two small red potatoes and dice into quarters and boil with skin on until tender. Then, remove skin and crush. Set aside and let cool.
Cook salt fish, by boiling in about 4 cups of water for 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain water, let cool and flake salt fish flesh, using a fork. You may also use clean hands to flake the flesh.
Add flaky salt fish to a small mixing bowl and add: crushed potatoes, granulated garlic (garlic powder), crushed dried thyme, cayenne pepper, finely chopped green onions, and fresh lime juice.
Then add grated garlic clove, grated onion, spicy brown mustard, and tomato paste. You may choose to add an egg for extra binding. Finally, mix it all together.
Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop out 1/4 cup of the seasoned saltfish mixture. Then, shape it into a flat cake. Make all of the cakes before you start cooking.
Add 1/4 cup of all purpose flour to 1 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs. Mix together then completely coat fish cake with bread crumbs and flour mixture.
Add about 3 cups of oil to a frying pan on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add salt fish cakes. Cook on one side until golden brown (about 4 minutes), then flip and cook on the other side until golden brown.
Place on a sheet of paper towel to allow some of the excess oil to drain. Then serve and enjoy!
I served mine with a sauce made with Guyanese wiri wiri pepper sauce, a bit of mustard, vinegar and honey. It was AMAZING!
Storage
Store saltfish cakes in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat them in the oven or air fryer to keep them crispy.
Tips for the Best Saltfish Cakes
- You can’t make this recipe without soaking the saltfish. Soak the fish for at least 8 hours (overnight) but up to 24 hours.
- Use clean hands to flask the salt fish flesh because it makes it into really tiny flakes.
- You can add an egg to the mixture for additional binding. I find that the potatoes are enough to pull it together without making it too stiff.
- Aim for a consistency that is moist enough to hold together but not overly wet. Adjust with breadcrumbs or flour as needed.
- If necessary, fry in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. This allows each cake to cook evenly.
Sauce for Saltfish Cakes
I serve salt fish cakes with a simple sauce I made by combining 1/8 cup white vinegar, 1 tbsp Guyanese pepper sauce, 1 tsp mustard and 1 tbsp honey. I added a pinch of salt and mixed it together. It gave it a nice kick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many saltfish cake recipes include eggs as binding ingredient. But it is an optional ingredient in this recipe because the flour and breadcrumbs give the patties enough structure.
Prevent homemade saltfish cakes from falling apart by use binding agents like beaten eggs or breadcrumbs. Allow the flaked fish and cooked potatoes to cool down before handling them gently. Cook in batches in a well-oiled pan to avoid overcrowding and to achieve a crisp exterior without breaking.
“Saltfish” refers to dried and salted codfish. Although cod is the most commonly used fish for this preparation, other white-fleshed fish like pollock or haddock may also be used.
Salt Fish Cake
Equipment
- 2 Large Pots
- Frying Pan
- Paper Towels
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb salt fish
- 1/4 lb red potatoes
- 1 tbsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
- 2 heads green onions
- 1/2 lime juiced
- 1 large garlic grated
- 1/4 large onion grated
- 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs
- 3 cups oil for frying
Instructions
- Soak salt fish in boiling water and leave overnight.
- Cook salt fish by boiling in about 3 cups of water for 30 minutes, in a medium pot on medium heat.
- Once cooked, let cool, then flake using a fork.
- Wash and dice potatoes (with skin on) into quarters.
- Boil potatoes until tender, then remove from heat and let cool.
- When cool, remove skin and crush. Add potatoes and salt fish to a small mixing bowl. Then add granulated garlic, thyme, cayenne powder, green onions, lime juice, grated garlic, grated onion, mustard and tomato paste. Mix together.
- Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop 1/4 cup of fish mixture and form into flat a cake. Continue until all the cakes are made (about 5 or 6).
- Then, mix together flour and bread crumbs. Coat cakes completely with bread crumbs mixture.
- Add oil to a frying pan on medium heat.
- When oil is hot but not smoking, add fish cakes and cook on one side until golden brown.
- Then flip and cook on the other side until it is golden brown. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to allow some of the excess oil to drain. Serve them however you chose and enjoy!
Nutrition
The information listed in the recipe card is an estimate provided by an online nutrition tool. The tool evaluates ingredient names and amounts then makes calculations based on the number of servings listed for the recipe. It is provided as a general guideline and not as a precise calculation. For precise nutrition information please feel free to add the ingredients to your preferred nutrition calculator or consult a doctor or licensed nutritionist.
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VERONICA Says
This is the third recipe I have used from your website. I just moved to another state away from my Guyanese mother‘s cooking and this is very close to what she normally has made for me. Looking forward to using more of your recipes.
Carol Says
I made these for brunch and they were an absolute hit. Super easy and my family enjoyed them. Can’t wait to try more recipes on your site.
Althea Brown Says
Thank you so much for trying my recipe and I am so happy your family enjoyed it!
Edward Gray Says
Looking for a good wiri wiri pepper sauce to put on those fish cakes!